New Philadelphia officials say they will stop providing fire and emergency medical services to Goshen Township if the two sides cannot agree on a new contract before the current one expires Dec. 31, 2026. The warning caps years of stalled negotiations over how much the township should pay for coverage that has existed for nearly 50 years.
According to Times Reporter, Goshen Township currently pays New Philadelphia $180,000 a year for fire and EMS protection, even though the township accounts for roughly 12% of the fire department's total call volume. The contract payment, combined with ambulance-billing revenue, represents about 5% of the department's $5 million annual operating budget, the paper reports. New Philadelphia residents pay $111.11 per person for the service, compared with $44.48 per person for township residents — a gap city officials call untenable.
City Safety Director Kevin Milligan said, “Obviously this huge discrepancy is neither fair...” according to Your Ohio News. Milligan added that the city wants reliable fire and emergency medical services with costs shared fairly between the two communities.
A Nearly 50-Year Arrangement Under Strain
New Philadelphia has contracted with Goshen Township for fire and EMS coverage for close to five decades, per the Times Reporter's reporting. The relationship has weathered previous funding fights; the contract is now $180,000, and Fire Chief Jim Parrish has served since 1992. A 2021 proposal pushed for an 8% minimum annual adjustment, with suggested township payments reaching $300,900 and then $315,000 within three years, though that structure didn't stick at those levels.
Tensions resurfaced when New Philadelphia notified Goshen Township trustees on March 23, 2024, that renewing the contract would require a price increase. The city said the new rates needed to cover rising costs and match what city residents already pay, according to WTUZ, which reported the increases were slated to take effect in 2027. That same notice outlined a proposal that would have raised the township's annual payment from $180,000 to just over $537,500 — a figure the city calculated at roughly $1,122 per call, WTUZ reported.
Three Options, Little Movement
New Philadelphia presented three separate options meant to gradually increase Goshen Township's contribution over three to five years, giving the township time to plan for higher costs while aligning payments more closely with actual emergency-service expenses, the Times Reporter's report states. City officials have been meeting with Goshen Township trustees since October 2025 to try to reach a new deal, but those talks have not produced an agreement. New Philadelphia officials say negotiations have made little progress over roughly the past two years, and the city has said township officials have been unresponsive to its gradual-increase proposals, according to Your Ohio News.
Goshen Township Trustee Bill Miller declined to discuss contract specifics while talks continue, but pushed back on the idea that the township isn't paying its share. Miller said the township already pays a substantial amount for fire and EMS protection, and he said trustees hope to keep working with New Philadelphia toward an agreement. Goshen Township collects about $224,000 annually through its own fire levy, allocating $180,000 of that toward the New Philadelphia contract, per the Times Reporter.
What the Numbers Show — and What Remains Unsettled
Milligan said he hopes the two communities can preserve their decades-long relationship through a new agreement rather than let the contract lapse. Still, the financial gap between what each side describes as fair compensation has proven difficult to close. Ohio law gives township trustees authority to establish rules guarding against fires and to provide fire apparatus; section 307.055 authorizes a joint emergency medical services district's board to contract for facilities and political subdivisions to contract with that board, according to the Ohio Revised Code and a related statutory provision.
It remains unclear what Goshen Township would do for fire and EMS coverage if the current contract lapses without a replacement in place. With about 81 days left before the Dec. 31, 2026 deadline, both sides say they want to keep talking — but neither has signaled a breakthrough is near.
